Two-wheel cart



April 24, 1945. H.-c. FUERSTENBERG 2,374,278

' .Two-WHEEL CART Filed Aug. 14, 1942 '4 PIB-v1 A1:1 L

Patented Apr. 24, 1945 oFFlcla:

Two-WHEEL CART lHerbert C. Fuerstenberg, Indianapolis,'1nd. n Application August i4, 1942,'sena1 105454308 (c1. 28o-51j 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a two-wheel cart and more particularly the peculiarities of its construction and one wherein, if desired, substantially no metal parts are necessary or required.

The chief object of this invention is to provide a two-wheel cart that can be readily transported, propelled or drawn, and which can be self-supporting when positioned in erect relation. l

The chief feature ofthe invention consists in providing what might be termed a relatively rigid U-shaped frame, having the free ends secured to an axle,` this forming a skeleton frame for the cart, and to which may be secured a minimum of three members to-wit: back, bottom, and front and sides, axle projecting portions supporting the wheels and to which may be added, when selfsustainment is desired, a foot rest, preferably positioned in spaced relation to the wheels, and medianly thereof, for three point bearing support of the cart.

Other objects and features of the inventionwill be set forth more fully hereinafter.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawing and the following description and drawing, y

In the drawing Fig. l is a perspective View of of the invention.

Fig. 2`is a side elevation of the lowerportio'n one embodiment fof the cart, the wheels being removed and a portion of the side being broken away to show a 'portion ofthe bottom and front in substantially central section and the foot rest in elevation.A n Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional View of one lower corner of the cart. l

Fig. 4 is a view somewhat similar to Fig. 3 and of amodiiled form of back and side member connection to the arm, the wheels, etc., being omitted. Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 4 andgof still further modified form of connection, the wheels,

etc., being omitted.

Reference will now be had to Figs. l to 3, inclusive, wherein the preferred form of the invention is illustrated by way of example only.

portiony I2, and thus secure` the handle portion to the'arm portions in rigid relation, thereby forming in eiect what may be termed a substantially U-shaped arrangement.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, I5 indicates an axle, which herein is shown rectangular in cross section and-it Vis vto be understood that each end thereof is reduced to cylindrical form as indicatedat I6. A disc-like wood wheel I'I is aper tured at I8 and is rotatably supported by the y spindle portion I6. A bre," or like, disc I9, also In this formr of the invention there is illustrated two arm portions IU that are comparatively elongated and are positioned lsubstantially parallel and in pre-determined spaced relation. The

ends of these arms may be, as illustrated in Fig. v

1, connected by a handle portion II, which at each end is reduced, forming portions I2 press fitted 'or the like in apertures I3 in what might be termed the Vupperends of the arms. Now, a

apertured at 20, is similarly mounted on the spindle vand then a tapered pin `2I is passed through the tapered hole 22 in the end of` the axle' to retain the Wheel and bre disc thereon.

It will be observed from Fig; 3 that the wheels areoutside ofthe arms ofthe U-shaped handle arrangement.` AThe upper face of theaxle is groovedas at 23.- The two confronting faces of arm'portions IIIare longitudinally and similarly grooved-as at24. A back member 25 having a suitably outlined, yor lupper edge conformation 26, has its side edges seated in the grooves 24, asV indicated at 25a, and the bottom edge of the back member 25,and indicated by the numeral `2'I in Fig. 2, is seated in the axle groove 23. When -thevlowerfends of the arms I0 are rigidly secured to the axle I5, it is quite'apparent that a rectangular open framework results that is rigid, and the back member 25 cannot escape from its groove mountings. .f `Asfshown in Fig. 3, the arm I0 is oifset slightly relative to the axle I5 and the lower end of the arm is angularly notched as at 28, see Fig. 2, so as'to engage two sides of the axle I 5. It is pinned to they axle by the dowel 29 that extends through registering'apertures 30 land 3| inthe reducedV portion of the arm IIJ andthe axle I5 immediately adjacent the spindle portion, respectively. By

this construction it is understood that the arms I0 are prevented from spreading outwardly, or collapsing inwardly, at the upper and lower ends, Vthe result being,4 as previously set forth, a relatively rigid rectangular-like open framework in which'is mounted back member 25.

The front face of the arms I0 is longitudinally `grooved as at 32 and -a -Ushaped sectioned front nail or pin I4 may be passed through the arm and and side member 33 has its rearward side edges 34 seated in these grooves 32 and retained in said dowels or pins 35'.

grooves by any suitable retainers', such as the `A bottom member 38 has its rearward edge 3l seated `ina grooveBIIinV the forward face of the axle. It Vis to be'understood that the two grooves 23 ,and 3Q do not extend the full'length of the to the U-shaped outline, or other outlines `of the,`

combination front and side member 33, except V' as will now be pointed out.

One or more tongues 4l may be provided on this edge 40 and project outwardly therefrom and' through one or more slots 42 formed in the lower" I portion of the member 33. In this manner the,y

bottom member is retained in assembled relation by means of the axle and the combination front and side membenf This is not the only, method of mounting, for whenever desired, the, rear edge 31 of the member.,36;mayoverliefthe axle and be tacked thereto, 'orv underlie ,the axle andbe nailed thereto, although the latter isnot as preferable as the former, and both of these methods are not as desirableas that specifically illustrated. When only/one tongue `4| is provided in the bottom member,` it preferably is medianly positioned, as shownin.Fig.,1. w l n y The aforesaid constitutes a two-wheel arrangement that may be picked up and readily carried and transportedgin an automobile, or the like,

and which can be pushed or which can be pulled. l

Whenever it. is, desired to have such. a carty to be self-sustaining, a foot rest, suchv as illustrated. in Fig. 2, between the, wheels |1 andindicatedby the numeral 43, may be provided and suchafoot rest is shown securedby means 'of nails, onthe f like, l44 passing throughthe bottom member 36 and into the member 43. This member V43 is preferably,medianlytpositioned and its bearing face 45 is positioned at considerabledistance forwardly from itplane, including-.g the axle l5 and said member liesin a plane perpendicular ;to the bottom member 36 and theybackmember. Since member 43 is positioned medianly between is that known as Randalitef the wheels |1 asl stated andisof suflicient, depth and` length as illustrated, a, three-pointrbearing will result, including the face 45,;and-the ,two wheels I1. `This three-pointbearing permits the cart to be self-sustaining whenrin a substantially verticalposition. ,1g i,

While the arms l0 are, hereinshownyseparate fromthe handleimember it is `to beunderstood that the handle may be-integral with the arms l0, and this maybeeffected byutilizing a single length of ymaterialand bowing ,the central portion, so that again aU-shapedhandle arrangement is formed. With thistype of arrangement, the back member is insertedin the 4grooves 24 and then the axle is pinnedin .placet hen the bottom member andthe` ,ll-shaped frontend side member are associated together land theurear edges of both members are then vseated in the axlegroove 23 and the arm grooves 32, respectively, andl whenthe tongue portions 34 .are

pirmed as `at 35, the constructionis complete,

except for mounting ofthe wheels. A v v The foot rest, preferably, is: *applied` to -the bottom member prior to its association, with the front and side members, although-it may be` applied theretoafter thestruture is assembled.

Reference will .now. 10e-had iso-Fis. f1; wherein 'l a modiedform of the invention is illustrated.

illustrated in Fig. 1. ""-axle member ||5, together with its wheel and In this form of the invention the back member |25 is associated with the arms ||0 by seating in the confronting slots |24 thereof and with the axle H5 by seating in groove |23 thereof. Also. the bottom member |36 is similarly associated with the front and side member |33 at its forward edge andV with the axle H5, as previously set forth. Herein, however, the said faces of the arms are not grooved longitudinally, but the portion |34 of the side member |33 is nailed as at |35 to the arm. This, it will be noted, provides a slightly larger volume container than that The outward extension of mounting .connection is omitted in the illustration Fig. 4, although this structure includes same,

for the purpose of-Fig. 4 is only to illustrate the modification connection between members |33 and ||0 as compared to 33 and I0 in Fig, 3 and that arm member I0 is not herein offset relative to'axle ||5 asillustratedin Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 5, it will be observed that the back member 225 `is similarly associated with the axle 2|5 at its lower edge and its side edge is ,seated in the notch 224 in the arm 2 l0. This notch is wider than those previously illustrated and herein the front and side member 233 has a side edge 235 extending angularly of the side portion and the same is also seated in this same slot 224 as shown. The bottom member 236 is associated with the lower forward portion of the side member, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, and the rear edge of the bottommember issimilarly associated with the axle as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. As previously set forth relative to Fig. 4, the wheels, axle extension, etc., are again omitted in Fig. 5. In this figure, arm 2|0 is likewise not offsetrelative to axle 2|5 (as illustrated in Fig. 3) but registers therewith as illustrated in Fig. 4. i l

The several members, 25, 33 and 36, maybe of plywood, or any other suitable material and one which has been `found suitably satisfactory This material `consists of one central layer of veneer faced with outer layers of kraft paperboard. This particularmaterial, or one equivalent to it, is not only flexible, but has quite a bit of stiffness and has sufcient strength and stability for load supporting and like'purposes. It'also has the advantages that it can be readily covered with paint, lacquer, or the like, so that a cart of this character maybe decorated in any desired or preferred manner. Since substantially all the portions are wood, the entire cart can be readily decorated as desired. V

The purposel of utilizing a retaining disc I3, see Fig. 3, of appreciable diameter and bearing against avrretaining pin 2| of appreciable length is to prevent cooking 'of the wheels on the axle. While the invention has been illustrated and described in great detail in the drawing and fore going description, thelsame' is to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive in character.

The several modifications described herein as well as others which will readily suggestthemselves .topersons skilled in this art, all are considered to be within the' broad scope of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims., v i, The invention vclaimed is: l l. A two-wheel cart includinga wheelgsupporting axle and a substantially u-shaped'- handle means having, elongated substantially parallel arms secured at their free ends to the axle adjacent the wheel mounting portions thereof, the axle, arms and handle means forming a closed frame structure, a back member, a front and side forming member, and a bottom member, the back member extending across the handle means from arm to arm and secured thereto, the front-side member having its opposite ends also secured to the arms, the bottom member being secured at its forward edge to the front member and at its rearward edge being operatively secured to the axle, the axle being grooved longitudinally and between the ends, the lower end of said back member seating in the axle groove.

2. A two-wheel cart including a wheel supporting axle and a substantially U-shaped handle means having elongated substantially parallel arms secured at their free ends to the axle adjacent the wheel mounting portions thereof, the axle, arms and handle means forming a closed frame structure, a back member, a front and side forming member, and a bottom member, the back member extending across the handle means from arm to arm 'and secured thereto, the frontside member having its opposite ends also secured to the arms, the bottom member being secured at its forward edge to the front member and at its rearward edge being operatively secured to the axle, the front and bottom members having a tongue and slot connection therebetween, the rear end of the bottom member being of tongue type for support by the axle.

3. A two-wheel cart including a wheel supporting axle and a substantially U-shaped handle means having elongated substantially parallel arms secured at their free ends to the axle adjacent the wheel mounting portions thereof, the

axle, arms and handle means forming a closed frame structure, a back member, a front and side forming member, and a bottom member, the back member extending across the handle means from arm to arm and secured thereto, the front-side member having its opposite ends also secured to the arms, the bottom member being secured at its forward edge to the front member and at its rearward edge being operatively secured to the axle, the arms and axle each being grooved longitudinally; the side edge portions of the back member seating in the arm grooves and the bottom edge portion of said back member seating in the axle groove.

4. A two-wheel cart including a pair of elongated substantially parallel arms having longitudinal grooves in their confronting faces and similarly directed grooves in their forward faces, a wheel supporting axle longitudinally grooved in its upper face and secured adjacent the wheel mounting portions thereof to the lower ends of f said arms, a back member having its side edge portions seated in the arm confronting grooves and its lower edge portion seated in the axle groove, a U-shaped sectioned front and side member having its rear side edge portions seated in and secured to forward face grooves of the arms, a transverse handle portion spaced from the top edge of the back member and secured at opposite ends to the upper ends of the arms,

the axle, arms and handle portion forming the rigid skeleton frame of the cart, and a bottom member secured at its forward edge to the U- shaped member and supported at its rearward edge by the axle.-

`I-lEl-'tBllRT C. FUERSTENBERG. 

